Strike Impacts Port of Vancouver
International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 514 workers began a 72-hour strike at 8 a.m. Nov. 4 at the Port of Vancouver’s B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) member terminals.
The BCMEA said in a release that ILWU Local 514’s strike action has begun to impact B.C.’s waterfront operations, and strike activity can easily escalate, including a complete withdrawal of labour without notice.
The BCMEA said to facilitate a safe and orderly wind-down of operations, it has made the decision to lockout forepersons and other Local 514 members commencing on the 4:30 p.m. shift and continuing until further notice. This lockout will not apply to grain or cruise operations.
The Port of Vancouver said in a statement that it expect disruptions to operations due to the ILWU’s 72-hour strike notice followed by the BCMEA’s 72-hour lockout notice.
“This B.C. coast-wide labour dispute will impact operations at BCMEA member terminals where Local 514 labour is employed,” read the statement. “At this time, we expect grain and cruise operations, along with operations at the Westshore coal terminal to continue at the Port of Vancouver.”
A sector breakdown of how the strike is impacting port operations include:
Auto sector
Operations impacted.
Breakbulk sector
Operations impacted.
Bulk sector
Grain operations and operations at the Westshore coal terminal are not affected by the labour dispute and will continue. Most petroleum products also continue to move. Operations for other commodities are impacted.
Container sector
Centerm, Deltaport, Fraser Surrey and Vanterm container terminals impacted. For supply chain data—including the Container Vessel Line-Up Report that includes vessels at anchor and dwelling outside of port authority jurisdiction—please visit the port dashboard.
Rail
Embargoes in place. Please contact your railway directly for information regarding the latest embargo information and impacted traffic.
Marine operations
There is currently limited anchorage capacity at the port due to recent inclement weather and seasonal demand including grain exports being in their peak shipping period.
There is currently limited anchorage capacity at the port due to elevated seasonal demand in the bulk sector as grain exports are in their peak period.
“We are working closely with the industry to optimize anchorage utilization to ensure port fluidity by prioritizing anchorage assignments to terminals that remain operational,” the Port of Vancouver indicated. “We are also working with federal partner agencies to proactively manage vessel traffic impacted by the labour disruption, the port’s anchorage availability and expected inclement weather.”
Source: Strike impacts Port of Vancouver – Inside Logisitics
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